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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29954964">Heartbroken Feedback Orchestra</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaihun/pseuds/celine'>celine (kaihun)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>EXO (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Ambiguous/Open Ending, Blood and Injury, Dreams, Dystopia, Loneliness, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, MAMA Era Powers (EXO), Minor Character Death, Pathcode (EXO), Red Force (EXO), Teleportation, Wind - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 01:14:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,000</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29954964</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaihun/pseuds/celine</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After being targeted by the Red Force, Sehun and Jongin decided to live separately to ensure their survival. Having to live apart is tearing away at Sehun more and more each day, and he wonders if surviving is worth the effort without Jongin by his side.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kim Jongin | Kai/Oh Sehun</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>monthlysekai's Flower Garden</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Heartbroken Feedback Orchestra</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Bouquet of dandelions for monthlysekai's Challenge #5</p><p>#17 Dandelion:  The floral meaning of the dandelion is that it is a gift to a loved one that will provide happiness and is a promise of total faithfulness.</p><p>As soon as I saw dandelion was still available for claiming, I thought of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0TRvVd-9_E">Sehun's pathcode teaser</a> and wanted to write something based on it &amp; connect it to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SN4xdhbL0nk">Pathcode #KAI</a>. The title is the text on Sehun's shirt in his Exodus teasers. </p><p>For those scared of NHE, Sehun and Jongin both live! </p><p>Blood, injury, and minor character death are mentioned, but these are not written explicitly. However I chose to use the archive warning anyway in case readers want to avoid any sort of violence.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>SEOUL 15:25</em>
</p><p><br/>
Scuffing the soles of his sneakers against the pavement, Jongin waited for Sehun to show up at their usual meeting spot in the empty lot behind their high school. They attended a specialized school for orphans, but in terms of education there wasn't actually anything special about it. In reality it was more of a cop-out project funded by the government to make it seem like they actually cared about the children. He and Sehun frequently skipped class, deeming it to be a complete waste of time. They were never taught anything useful, just the usual patriotic propaganda. Not to go do drugs or anything illegal, they just talked about life and how they couldn't wait to turn eighteen and finally get out of the city.</p><p>Even when Jongin had only known Sehun for a few weeks after he transferred in, he knew they shared something special. It wasn't long before they found themselves sharing secrets with each other, secrets Jongin never found comfortable telling anyone else. Something was compelling him to, some deep, primal urge for Sehun to know him completely.</p><p>It was Sehun who opened up first, and Jongin recalled how surprised he was by the ease at which the other boy did so. He didn't even know Jongin yet, and technically shouldn't have trusted him, but his heart was always so pure and open. He knew it could be what killed Sehun one day, but it was also what made him who he was, and Jongin learned better than to try to change that. The world was already fucked up on its own, and he felt the need to protect that innocent part of Sehun from ever extinguishing as an act of rebellion.</p><p>He had found out Sehun was a year behind him, though they were the same age, and like Jongin, lost both his parents in an accident before he turned five. Neither of them had any real memories left of them, just blurry faces, and a vague sense of a mother's touch.</p><p>Whenever they caught each other staring, a thrill that ran through Jongin, an intense feeling there was something deeper that connected them. Something other than being orphans, because the school was full of kids like them, and he had never felt the need to get to know any of them, not like this. </p><p>Jongin could tell Sehun was approaching him now from the distinct sound of his footsteps.</p><p>"Hey, you're late."</p><p>Sehun rolled his eyes. "It's been one minute. One. Don't tell me you missed my presence that much."</p><p>"I did, though," Jongin said, knowing how the compliment would affect Sehun. Sure enough, he started blushing.</p><p>"S-shut up," said Sehun, looking flustered as he averted his eyes.</p><p>"So, what did you wanna show me that's so important?" Jongin questioned.</p><p>"I was thinking of showing you some, um, magic tricks, that I've learned lately."</p><p>"Oh? I didn't know you were interested in magic."</p><p>"There's a lot you don't know about me," Sehun glowered, but Jongin knew him well enough by then to hear the regret, the vulnerability there. Like all he wanted was for Jongin to know everything, but he was too afraid of taking that risk, and dealing with the repercussions.</p><p>"Show me then. You can trust me," Jongin assured him, his tone soft and careful. "I promise."</p><p>That was the beginning of it all. As teenagers first discovering their powers together, it had felt like a magical fantasy, as if they were two protagonists protecting a secret no one else could possibly know. It didn't take long for them to realize how naive they had been to think that.</p><p><br/>
<em>SEOUL 03:45</em>
</p><p><br/>
It was a year after their first meeting when Sehun began sensing the unknown, ominous presence creeping in on them. He'd feel the hair stand at the back of his neck, alerting him that someone, or something, was watching him, following him. Something sinister. But when days passed with no incidents, Sehun was lured into a false sense of security. Whatever was after him had been waiting for him to be alone, to let his guard down when he wasn't with Jongin.</p><p>One night, he went out alone to grab something at the convenience store, humming along to the latest song the AI recommended him. In the blink of an eye, a gloved hand covered his mouth from behind, muffling his screams for help. There was a distinctly sweet smell as he took a breath in, and then it all went black.</p><p>The next thing he remembered, he was coming to on a cold, damp floor, and there was Jongin cradling him in his arms. There was an expression on his face Sehun had never seen before, and it scared him.</p><p>"J-Jongin? What happened? Where am I?" Sehun asked, flicking his eyes around to try to figure out where they were, but the quick movement was making him woozy.</p><p>Jongin was touching his face so gently it was weirding him out, as if he couldn't believe Sehun was there in front of him. But his hands were wet, and his face and shirt looked stained, but it was too dark to see much else. Had it been raining?</p><p>"Sehun, Sehun you're alright," Jongin kept repeating like he was trying to convince himself.</p><p>After Jongin helped him up, they struggled to find an exit out of the building they were in, some creepy abandoned warehouse. When they finally pushed open a steel door and the light of the full moon washed over them, Sehun looked over at Jongin and his eyes widened in terror.</p><p>Jongin's face, his shirt, his hands - they were soaked in blood.</p><p>That was the night that changed everything, and Sehun never stopped blaming himself. For letting his guard down and allowing himself to be vulnerable, which had forced Jongin into the position of saving him. Of killing for him.</p><p>But there was no going back. After that night, they dropped out of school and went into hiding, spending all their time finding out who, or what, had been after Sehun, and if there were others coming. They already knew why - it had to be related to Sehun's power. It was the most logical conclusion. Sehun had no money, no connections that warranted value for him to be kidnapped, and possibly killed for it. But then why hadn't they tried to take Jongin, too? Jongin had guessed it was because Sehun was using his powers more often, and somehow that was how they tracked Sehun down. It was also possible they knew about Jongin, too, but decided to go for Sehun first. Either way, they knew their lives would never be the same again.</p><p>After going into hiding with Jongin and conducting extensive research on the darkest recesses of the web, they gathered enough information to learn they weren't alone out there. Due to new evolutionary mutations that began appearing in the last century, there were others like them with unimaginable powers. Powers that made them a target for exploitation by a shadowy organization of many names, all under the umbrella of "The Red Force." Its members and investors were secret, but they had connections with people in power. Did the Red Force want to kill them, or keep them alive to experiment on their bodies? Either way, Sehun didn't want to find out.</p><p>It wasn't long before the Red Force found them again, this time sending two masked agents in the dead of night. Sehun had helped Jongin limp his way up to the rooftop after he got hurt in their attempt to escape, as he was unable to teleport anyone but himself and refused to leave Sehun on his own. After he laid Jongin down safely in a corner, Sehun used his anger to summon the most powerful windstorm from deep within him. It rattled his bones, channeled through his veins before bursting outward from his hands, the sky turning dark as a tornado formed seemingly out of thin air.</p><p>The 240 kph winds flipped cars, shattered windows, and uprooted several trees in the vicinity, but left Sehun and Jongin completely unharmed. The two agents were dead, violently thrown off the roof of the building, the sight of their lifeless bodies twisted so grotesquely that Sehun vomited onto the pavement.</p><p>When Jongin pulled off their masks, the two boys were stunned to find their own faces staring back at them. </p><p>"What the actual fuck?" Jongin gasped as Sehun fearfully held onto his arm.</p><p>Upon closer inspection, the dead men were an almost spitting image of them, except the one that looked like Sehun had a long, vertical scar over his right eye. Jongin's doppelganger had his hair dyed an eerie, turquoise green, and he had a small scar under his left eye.</p><p>"What the hell is going on?" Sehun whispered.</p><p><br/>
<em>EDINBURGH 15:25</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Sehun is walking around, lost. Windmill Walk, the building sign tells him. The clouds loom menacingly overhead.</p><p>He reaches a home, painted white with large glass windows. The door is open, he steps inside.</p><p>The air is different here, unusually heavy like time itself has stopped. Toy planes and cars are suspended in the air. There are two children he's never seen before sitting in the living room. Sehun thinks they're frozen, too, until their necks snap to turn and stare at him, their gazes preternatural.</p><p>The room starts shaking, and the sky darkens. A total solar eclipse.</p><p>It feels like everything is closing in. He has to get out of here.</p><p>Sehun spins around and dashes for the door as fast as his legs can carry him, but he's moving in slow motion. Somehow he manages to get out, the door slamming shut behind him.</p><p>A dandelion gently blows in the wind.</p><p><br/>
Sehun wakes up in a cold sweat on the couch, the shrill sound of a whistling tea kettle ringing in his ears. He jumps up in a panic, rushing to turn off the gas while scolding himself. He knows better than to fall asleep while the stove is on... he could've burned his place down.</p><p>This has been happening to him a lot more lately, randomly zoning out and getting weird premonitions or visions of the past. Since he doesn't suffer from narcolepsy, that can only mean one thing: Jongin is in trouble, and he needs to find him.</p><p>They've always had this unique, inexplicable connection between them, a special bond that attached their individual realities despite the thousands of kilometers between them. It was a separate entity from their wind and teleportation powers, something they had no real understanding or active control over, but they felt its existence just as palpably as their five senses.</p><p>It's been over a year since he's last seen Jongin. Well, not entirely true, as they've managed to exchange the occasional picture via email or actual mail like they'll forget what the other looks like now, but they try not to do it too often in fear of revealing their respective current locations. It's been rough having to live off the grid, constantly moving every couple of months, the aliases, the P.O. boxes, and the damn burner phones. But that's nothing compared to the worst part of all, being separated from Jongin. But they don't have a choice.</p><p>They still don't know the exact details of how the Red Force manages to track them down, but they're convinced that being together makes them an easier target. Their energies are concentrated when they're together whether they're actively using their powers or not. Even if it was mostly paranoia, it's a fact that they've had less run-ins with the Red Force ever since they started living far apart and limiting their contact.</p><p>But the same powers that make them a target for extermination have also been what's keeping them alive. Now they know to limit how often they use them, quickly change locations so their trail can't be easily followed in situations when they have to use them. It's been especially hard for Jongin because his power is incredibly draining, more so than Sehun's wind control; Sehun has the ability to draw power from Earth's climate, so the strength of his attacks are less dependent on his internal energy level. On the other hand, Jongin is limited by how frequently he can teleport, depending on the distance traveled, and his mental and physical condition at the time. However, with time and careful practice, both he and Sehun have improved their mastery of their powers, though they remain endlessly far from the point of feeling truly safe.</p><p>Suddenly feeling claustrophobic, Sehun decides to take a quick walk outside. It's late afternoon, but at this time of the year it gets dark early. There are shadows lurking at every corner, and Sehun doesn't feel much better even with the fresh air in his lungs, the cold snapping him into a state of hypervigilance. </p><p>The sun and moon are out at the same time, and a crow watches Sehun from afar, its dark, beady eyes making him feel strangely unsettled.</p><p>When he's several blocks away from home, he gets a new e-mail alert on his phone.</p><p> </p><p><strong>                from</strong>: unknown sender (354I@hotmail.com)<br/>
<strong>                to</strong>: me (35AN@gmail.com)<br/>
<strong>                date</strong>: March 18, 2015 15:25<br/>
<strong>                subject</strong>: p4thc0d3</p><p>Hope this email finds you safely.</p><p>Lately, I feel like I'm being followed.</p><p>I think something major will happen during the eclipse. </p><p>We need to meet before then.</p><p><br/>
CALL ME BABY</p><p> </p><p>The black crow caws at Sehun once, then flaps its wings before taking flight.</p><p><br/>
<em>LONDON 15:01</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Jongin gets the distinct feeling someone's been following him all over, from Trafalgar Square to the London Eye. The eclipse is happening in a few days, but for now he can take care of himself. He can't help being more worried about Sehun, his welfare is always on his mind. It'll be risky for the two of them to meet up here, but his intuition is telling him that this is something they'll have to face, and fight together. It's the only way.</p><p>On the rooftop of a building, he surveys the skyline of the city once before instantly teleporting to lose whoever is on his trail.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>LONDON 16:08</em>
</p><p> </p><p>"You came," Jongin says breathily into his ear and makes him shiver, having pulled Sehun in for an embrace as soon as he was close enough. "You're really here."</p><p>Sehun nods, smiling into Jongin's hair while he's so obviously taking lungfuls of Sehun's scent, like he's afraid he'll disappear any second now and won't get enough of it before then. "Of course I'm here, you needed me."</p><p>"I always need you," Jongin corrects, drawing back to stare at Sehun as he holds him sternly by the shoulders.</p><p>"If that were true, you'd come see me more often." The words come out of his mouth before he can think better of it. They both made this decision; Sehun knows all the logical reasons why, but knowing and accepting are worlds away, a constant fight between heart and mind he hasn't yet conquered.</p><p>"Sehun, you know I-" Jongin starts, looking like his heart is breaking every second he has to see Sehun sad, and knowing he's partly the cause.</p><p>"I'm sorry," Sehun cuts in. "I know why. It's just.. I don't know, sometimes I feel like I need you more than you need me."</p><p>"Don't tell me you really believe that." The pain in Jongin's voice makes Sehun regret being so brutally honest, but he can't help the way he feels. It's been so hard living without Jongin by his side, not getting to see his face everyday, or feel his grounding touch. It's something he'll never get used to, something he never wants to get used to. But Jongin is different - he's always been strong on his own, well-disciplined and bolstered by his conviction to persevere when realism and practicality called for it. Sehun admired him for all those reasons, but sometimes, in a way, he secretly hated him for it, too. Maybe he's being unreasonable, but he only wishes things were different.</p><p>His silence speaks volumes, spurring Jongin to caress Sehun's cheek with his thumb, then to kiss him like he's afraid it'll be the last straw that makes him break. It of course has the opposite effect. The softness of Jongin's lips, his taste, the intimacy of sharing one breath, all have Sehun feeling more alive than he's been in ages. It's suddenly all new to him, like he's experiencing Jongin for the first time. In a sense, that's part of what's been scaring Sehun, the fact that he's capable of forgetting exactly how good this is.</p><p><br/>
<em>SEOUL 15:25</em>
</p><p><br/>
"Are you going to make a wish?" Sehun asks curiously, watching Jongin pluck a dandelion stem from a crack in the sidewalk.</p><p>"A wish?" Jongin asks, confused. "What for?"</p><p>"You're supposed to make wishes on dandelions," Sehun huffs, crossing his arms over his chest. "Before you blow on them, I mean."</p><p>"Really? I've never heard that before," replies Jongin as he scratches his cheek.</p><p>"Well, now you know." Sehun looks at him pointedly, tapping his foot as he waits. </p><p>Getting the picture, Jongin contemplates his wish, then blows every seed off the dandelion in a single breath. Each one looks like a tiny, fluffy umbrella, floating up and away with the wind before disappearing into the sky on an unknown exodus. </p><p>"Happy now?"</p><p>"Yup." Sehun grins. "So, what did you wish for?"</p><p>"Don't you know you're supposed to keep your wishes a secret, or else they won't come true?" Jongin counters.</p><p>"Pfft. You're no fun."</p><p>"Fine, I'll give you a hint," Jongin laughs. "It's about you. Well, more specifically, it's about us."</p><p>"Ah, okay." Sehun smirks, playfully bumping his hip into Jongin's. "I get it."</p><p>"Do you now?"</p><p>"Mhm." He pulls another dandelion from the sidewalk. "I'll wish for the same thing."</p><p>"Perfect." Jongin smiles. "Then it's sure to come true."</p>
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